Avenati pleaded guilty in Santa Ana, California, to four counts of wiretapping for each customer he stole from, and one count of attempting to obstruct the administration of the Internal Revenue Code. Prosecutors say Avenati has thwarted the IRS’s efforts to collect $ 5 million in unpaid payroll taxes for a company he runs, known as Tully’s Coffee.
Judge James Selna sentenced Avenati to 19 September. Avenati faces a legal maximum of 83 years in prison, although his sentence is likely to fall below the maximum.
Avenati’s request allows one of the other two criminal cases against him. The former lawyer, a hostile critic of former President Donald Trump who once planned to run for president, has fallen out of favor after being charged with three federal charges for a six-week period in 2019.
On Thursday, Avenati admitted to stealing millions of dollars from clients, including $ 4 million from a severely disabled client. According to the indictment, after Avenati negotiates agreements for clients that require payment to go to them, he will lie to clients about the terms of the agreements, instead of depositing the funds in attorneys’ trust accounts he controls. He would then misappropriate and misappropriate those funds, according to the indictment, and to prevent his scheme from being revealed, he would tell clients that the proceeds from the settlement had not yet been paid, among other tactics.
He is currently serving a five-year sentence after being convicted in two separate trials in New York for attempting to extort millions of dollars from Nike and stealing nearly $ 300,000 from a book advance from his then-client Stormy Daniels, the adult movie star. who claims to have had an affair with Trump years before he ran for office. (Trump denied having an affair with Daniels.)
Avenati has been charged with 36 counts in California of embezzling millions of dollars from his clients, numerous allegations that he failed to file tax returns and lying about a case involving the bankruptcy of his former law firm, Egan Avenati.
Last year, he went to trial on charges related to the client, and improper litigation was announced for technical reasons. He had to stand trial next month before deciding to plead guilty.
Avenati still faces 31 charges of wire fraud, bank fraud, identity theft, insolvency fraud and tax charges.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the California Central District, which is handling the case, said in a statement: “The government is reviewing the case to determine how it will proceed after today’s guilty pleas. If the government chooses to continue on the remaining counts, Judge Selna will revoke the sentencing date to September 19. “
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